Palermo - Piazza Bellini / Santa Caterina

Close by the Senatorial Palace in Palermo lies the Piazza Bellini, with three churches. The Chiesa di Santa Caterina was built in 1566-96 as a single-aisled church for the Dominican nuns. In the 17th and 18th centuries the interior was altered in the most lavish Baroque style. The statue of St Catharine on the high altar is the work of Antonello Gagini (1534). The two other churches are far more attractive to the eye; they are the important Norman churches of La Martorana and San Cataldo.